


Cards All Fold

by JaxxCapta



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: AU Where the Decepticons did not give up their original views, And the Autobots didn't change much either, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Multi, Not quite Shattered Glass, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some rebalancing has occurred to make the Autobots tougher
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9778583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaxxCapta/pseuds/JaxxCapta
Summary: Through millennia of war, the Decepticons have kept their promise of freedom, of casteless life and respect for all. But when their numbers dwindle, seeing that become a universal truth proves difficult. Earth is one of their last bastions, but it too is occupied by Autobot forces that threaten to overwhelm them.The Autobots teeter between war-weary veterans and the youth they've swept into their cause. With just a little more effort, the war can be over, the Decepticons vanquished, order restored. The end is in sight.





	1. Dredges

There was one remaining mining crew. It was bare-bones, not enough for a second shift, only two more miners than the absolute minimum deemed acceptable. They were cobbled together from other crews that had been decimated by accidents, raids, and the occasional change of duty.

And all the officers on the Nemesis swore it was all the least competent or most mouthy miners that had made it onto this final crew. They had, after all, just found their first energon deposit in years.

The supervisor, who'd decided on the name Brock upon reaching Earth, gestured towards a map. “Sirs, the deposit is located-”

“We _know_ where it's located!” Starcream snapped, cradling his head with one hand. On cue, Soundwave displayed the coordinates upon his visor to emphasize the point. Primus, if he had to spend any more time than necessary dealing with them the Nemesis would have no mining crew left.

“Rude.” Di may have whispered the word as quietly as possible, but Soundwave caught the noise and replayed it. She froze stiff as her fellow miners – and Starscream – glared at her.

For now, Starscream kept her punishment to a scowl. He dragged his clawed fingers down his face; how had it all come to this? “If you do not shut your mouth...”

“Yes, sir.” She scuffed the floor with her foot, optic band cast towards the junction between the wall and the floor. One of the other miners – Starscream was rather sure this one called herself Emerald to match Di's full designation of Diamond – rested a hand on her shoulder. Brock dared to tilt his head towards Di and Emerald as well.

Soundwave nodded towards the screen, a table of figures displayed on his face.

One miner, the one with the most scratched-up paint, nudged Brock. The supervisor jumped, at full alert when he landed. The screen cycled between images until settling on a visualization of the energy reading they'd detected. “I-it's not very strong, but we think there may be a significant amount of e-energon beneath the surface.”

Soundwave nodded once more. He raised his arm and pointed one long, spindly finger towards the door.

The miners could not have scrambled out faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! So, started a new fic. I can't promise a solid update schedule; I have other, school-related machines to yell at, and my brain is notoriously fickle. Hope you enjoy the story. Comments, questions, critique, and the like always welcome.


	2. No Rest for the Wicked

“Afthats,” Di growled. Her fists were clenched, even as she maneuvered down the slope. All her fellows were using their hands to keep steady. They didn't expect anything less from her, and she had to maintain that image. Even if it meant praying each step didn't send her tumbling over. Or the slight breeze didn't get stronger and blow sand into her optic bands.

“I know they are. But there's worse afthats out there.” Brock hesitated, his foot catching on a boulder. The rest of the crew stopped behind him, metal clanging as some of them bumped into each other. But nobody fell, and that was enough for him.

“Hah! Yeah, they could be Autobooooots!” As soon as Di took another step the ground crumbled under her. Her fellows peered over the edge as she tumbled, helm over heels, into the pit. She managed to get out of the roll halfway down, but all the scrabbling against the sand and loose rock was for naught. Metal screeched against rock. Pebbles clanged as they hit her. She bounced off a small ledge and slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. She laid there limp, nobody able to see if her optic bands were on or not.

They scrambled down to the tune of several curses, many of them originating from Brock. Of course something went wrong on his watch. Of course it did. This wouldn't happen when Breakdown offered to sub in as supervisor.

“Di!”

As the others skidded to a halt around her, Di lifted a servo to her helm and groaned. She sat up, at least, reaching out for someone to help her up.

Emerald took Di's servo, lifting her up into an embrace. Their arms around each other's lower backs, they tapped their helms together.

“You scared me. Be careful next time,” Emerald said, pulling Di closer. The other miners groaned at the public display of affection and wandered off to get started.

Di giggled, running her thumb along Emerald's jawline. “Anything-”

“Di! Em! Get to work!” Brock didn't particularly like shouting at his crew, but if he had to, so be it. He turned around from the area he was scanning to face them. “There's plenty of ground to cover. Let's get this place mapped ASAP so we can move on to something more fun.”

“Like almost dying in a cave-in?” Di said.

“Or getting lost in a natural cavern?” Chauncey added.

“There could be an energon explosion,” Isaac suggested. He stretched, showing off amateur repairs and a ruined paint job. “Best fun I had in years.”

Oh, for the love of Primus. “No! None of those things! And there hasn't been an explosion _for_ years, Isaac, we're fine.”

“You never know.”

Brock placed one hand across each optical band, shaking his head as he turned back around to keep scanning. “Just work. And try not to die.”

That worked. There was still chatter, but it was quiet enough for Brock to ignore it and nobody was goofing off. Most of it was murmurings about how glad they were they'd found something; the officers had been getting nervous. Rather, Starscream and Breakdown were nervous, Knock Out somewhat concerned, and Soundwave was as unknowable as ever. Primus, they hoped Soundwave wasn't upset with them. That was about the worst possible outcome of... anything, really. The rest was gossip and plans to meet up at races or drive-in theaters.

None of them noticed the figures that appeared at the rim of the crater.


	3. Disturbance

“Nice day.” While Arcee's holoform rider stayed still, certainly not looking around to enjoy the view, she felt no concern talking to the car driving beside her. There hadn't been humans for miles. The rider was only there for caution's sake.

“Mmmhm. Prime picked a good place for us to stay, huh?” Cliffjumper didn't even bother with a holoform; his windows were tinted dark enough.

“Energon will be a nice touch.”

Cliffjumper smiled to himself. The Autobots had run out of what they'd gotten from the last mine, and it hadn't been one of their crews which found the next energy signature. It had been _him_. Hah. Finally, someone around here got something done.

“So, anyways, as I was saying...”

The two drove together, Cliffjumper regaling Arcee with tales of how he'd managed to pester and confuse the locals. She “mmhm”ed and “Oh of course”d along. Humans weren't really her thing, but so long as Cliffjumper was entertaining himself and not blowing their cover, well, he wasn't under her command.

“This the site?” she asked as the earth dropped away into a huge crater.

“That's it.”

Both stopped, waiting for the dust to settle before transforming. They approached the edge of the crater with care; they could hear small rocks breaking off. But it was immediately obvious they weren't alone. Ten Decepticon miners were already at the bottom, wandering about. Scanning the area, Arcee bet. A dark streak on the other side of the crater and the dust on one's back told of a tumble down the slope. None of them looked up. The sun high overhead helped, keeping all shadows near the forms casting them.

Cliffjumper rolled his shoulders, tilting his helm from side to side. “Well, looks like we're on clearout duty.”

“Cliff!”

Too late. He jumped over the edge, whooping as he surfed the sliding sand into the pit. Arcee heard blaster sounds, a stray shot flying overhead. From what she could see, though, the miners were running away, to the other side of the pit. Where were the usual accompanying eradicons?

She opened up a comm line to Ratchet. _:Cliffjumper found miners with that energon signature.:_

 _:Don't tell me he's fighting them himself.:_ Arcee could practically feel Ratchet's dread at hearing her answer.

She toed the edge of the crater. He seemed to be doing well so far. _:I won't lie to you.:_

Now she heard Ratchet's sigh and all the tiredness behind it. _:Make sure he doesn't get himself hurt.:_

 _:Sure thing.:_ Arcee ran some quick calculations, determining the best route-

She caught the stray shot out of the corner of her optic. She didn't have time for an intake before it hit a tiny, exposed piece of energon.

The force of the explosion knocked her down. She was airborne for less than a second, then she was on the ground, coughing shaken internals into place. Smoke rose from the pit, sharp and weirdly sweet from the vaporized energon.

“Cliff,” she rasped, hauling herself upright. Her systems were still running diagnostics, but all that had finished returned in the clear so far. Maybe there was still hope for Cliffjumper. He was tough. He'd be fine. He had to be fine.

_:Ratchet. Do you have Cliffjumper's vitals?:_

_:Yes. So that was an explosion?:_

_:Afraid so.:_ He was okay. That's all she needed to know. He was still alive. Maybe the miners were, too, but after that, she doubted any were in a state to fight. She lowered herself over the edge, now a much steeper slope than before. Glassed, too. There was no hiding the sound of her pedes against the glass, nor the sound of her digging her fingers in to keep from falling and sliding down like that one miner.

She slid down the last little bit anyways, coming to a stop beside Cliffjumper. He'd been thrown against the wall, and while he was waking up, he was groggy, his optics dim and unfocused. He mumbled when she arrived, flinching when she touched a crunched part of his arm.

An engine rumbled overhead. It was faint, but it got Arcee's attention. She snapped her helm up, searching for the source.

What she saw was the dark silhouette of a Predator drone, barely visible through the smoke and dust.

_:Ratchet! Groundbridge, now!:_

As soon as the portal opened, she shoved Cliffjumper through, giving Soundwave one last look before going through herself.


	4. Accidents Happen

Breakdown had been uncertain when Soundwave posited the idea of doing a flyover, just to see how the miners were doing. He trusted the miners, and thought Soundwave's presence would scare them more than anything. Sure, that might give them a boost in productivity, but they didn't deserve to live in fear. Wasn't that the point of the cause? Or, one of the points?

Soundwave had listened and considered the argument as it went on in Breakdown's mind. It wasn't like he put much effort into enforcing his reputation. He gathered data. That was his job: intelligence and communications. Support the Decepticon cause. Any fearsomeness from his behavior or past actions was unintentional. It didn't mean he had to stop doing his job.

Their conversation – one-sided as it was – ended when Brock commed in, anyways.

_:Sir! We're under attack!:_

Without a word from either party, Breakdown ran towards the medbay to tell Knock Out to get ready for incoming casualties. Soundwave opened up a groundbridge in front of his face and stepped through.

He fell through the air for all of half a second. Wind whistled through his plates, warnings flashing in his HUD as his momentum increased. Laserbeak trilled, wondering what was taking him so long. That's when he transformed.

The air was dry. A light breeze blew against his right side, easily compensated for. Desert stretched on for miles below him, interrupted by the occasional mountain or plateau.

The crater the energon reading had come from was easy to find. First of all, it was a giant hole in the ground. Second, it was now a giant, smoking hole in the ground.

A thought, not one with words but perfectly understood, passed from Soundwave to Laserbeak through their bond. She detached, both readjusting to stay in line with each other. A couple more half-queries and she dove down to find the miners.

What she reported first was not a miner, but two brightly-colored forms at the rim of the crater. Soundwave adjusted his flight path, dipping into the smoke.

Autobots indeed. One happened to be looking straight at him, how convenient. He ran an image of her face through the Nemesis's database and came up with Arcee well before he got the result of Cliffjumper for the second one.

So. They _were_ here. Unsurprising; Soundwave knew their Prime cared for organic life. Or perhaps they, too, had seen how energon-rich the crust – at _least_ \- of this planet was, and come to mine it dry like they had to dozens upon dozens of planets before. Then again, they had many empty tanks to fill.

A groundbridge lit up, Arcee pushing Cliffjumper in first. Such camaraderie. Was Prime himself here to enforce it? She looked up at him, optics narrowed like she was considering how to line up a shot.

He was debating telling Laserbeak to attack when Arcee, too, retreated into the groundbridge. Perhaps another day.


	5. Bite the Dust

“Di!” Emerald cried, waving smoke away from her cracked optic band. Her legs ached a distant ache, her HUD rolling out a full list of her injuries. Broken struts up the left side of her body where she'd smashed into the crater wall. Fingers crunched. One leg hanging on by a matter of wires and a couple actuators. Multiple energon line breaks detected. None of it mattered. She needed to find Di. “Di! Di-a-mo-ond!”

A damaged strut creaked and she collapsed. She lay there, venting hard as she tried to clear out the smoke from her intakes. At least the air was cleaner here at the ground. Knock Out was going to kill them all for fighting in an energon-rich pit. Didn't they know they'd get thrown against the wall? The only worse place was a mine in a mountain.

Footsteps clicked against the cooling glass. She saw dark limbs and tried to push herself upright.

“Diamond!”

No response. As the person walked closer, she saw why. She tilted her head further and further back until she saw Soundwave's visor, tilted down at her. She froze, her intakes stopping.

He unfurled one data cable, its prongs latching to the tiny port on the back of her neck. He didn't intrude beyond downloading a copy of the error reports, as distant and professional as could be. She got the feeling he was going to send it to Knock Out, but the thought didn't... Didn't feel like her own.

When he disconnected from her she found the willpower to reach out, hesitating above his ankle. “Please... Find Di.”

He nodded once and opened a groundbridge inches from her face.

As much as she wanted to protest, to refuse to leave until she knew Di was okay, she dragged herself through the groundbridge until she was scraping against the Nemesis's floor, the med bay's lights bright in her face.


	6. Recovery Time

Ratchet grumbled all the way to the med bay, cursing Cliffjumper's impulse to fight around energon of all things. He was no laborer caste and Ratchet knew it, but slag it, didn't the young mech have two chips in his head to rub together?

And now that Cliffjumper was coming into full consciousness, all his injuries repaired, Ratchet got ready to start up again.

“Cliffjumper, please tell me you've heard of risk assessment.” Ratchet waved a wrench over his head, tracking his optics and the way he flinched. Good. His reflexes appeared to be in full, working order. “Fighting in an energon pit, of all things.”

Cliffjumper pushed the offending object and limb away to sit up, grimacing at the ache from healing injuries. “Lesson learned, Ratch. Lesson learned!”

“Oho, I think not.” Ratchet could identify a deflection from orbit, and Cliffjumper's was obvious to the edge of the solar system. “I think I'll recommend to Prime that you be on communications duty until you are completely healed.”

“Come on, Ratch! I'm a sturdy mech. I can take a good knock.” To demonstrate, Cliffjumper rapped on his helm, a silly grin on his face.

Ratched sighed, rolling his optics. It was true; Cliffjumper could have sustained far worse injuries. He also could have been taken by Soundwave, whom Arcee had reported seeing. If Soundwave was here, the rest of the high-ranking Decepticon officers couldn't be far behind. That had been an early lesson. As much as Cliffjumper liked to strut about declaring how tough he was, he'd never be able to take on the Decepticon officers in an injured state. “Well, _sturdy mech_ , I believe you ought to report in and be debriefed. We weren't expecting _company_.”

Cliffjumper slid off the table, taking a moment to adjust to standing. “Sure.”

Ratchet shook his head and followed Cliffjumper out. First Cliffjumper takes on the first Decepticons they'd seen in years on his own, then Bumblebee goes out under the claim that he was “staking out the town for Decepticon activity.”

Was it just him, or did Optimus enjoy surrounding himself with hot-headed youth?


	7. Medical Theory

Knock Out wanted to shake his head at the two miners who'd been placed on the same recovery berth. They were all entangled, resting on each other and whichever side of theirs was least damaged. Both were asleep, their optic bands dark, their movements rare and fidgety. They were almost impossible to tell apart, or would be when they were repainted. For now, their weld lines were identifiers enough. And judging by the way those weld lines and the body parts they were attached to were angled, they could _not_ have been comfortable.

But Breakdown was hovering over them like a worried carrier, ready to realign anything too out of place. It was his fault Emerald and Diamond were this way, anyways. He argued that being near each other's sparks would help with the recovery process. A cute idea, perhaps more on the side of cliché, but it kept Breakdown happy.

_And,_ Knockout thought, casting a glance at the body they had covered with a green tarp, _They're going to need all the emotional support they can get._

Soundwave had recovered all the miners alive. Some moreso than others, and Brock had been clinging to life and consciousness with all the determination he could muster. He'd demanded to see that the other miners were all alive, then thrashed against everyone who touched him. He refused to be treated before the others, only to have passed by the time Knock Out and Breakdown returned to him.

The glitch probably thought he was in better shape than he'd been.

As the population of rescued mining and enforcement builds dwindled, those that remained grew closer and closer. Partially out of necessity, Knock Out was sure, but from the way Breakdown spoke of them, the remaining ten – no, nine now – were inseparable at the very least. Emerald and Diamond were proof of that.

One last round showed everyone in stable condition. Knock Out collapsed onto a bench with a sigh. Peace at last.

Breakdown sat down beside him, propping Knock Out up and letting him rest his head in his lap. Always the caretaker, that big blue mech. He'd hardly met Knock Out's optics since Brock died; he had to be affected, too. He'd always been close to the rescues, often proving to be the most friendly face they saw when they were brought aboard the Nemesis. They warmed up to Knock Out quick enough, and they'd been starstruck when Megatron was aboard, but Starscream's nervous, snappy nature and Soundwave's... Soundwave-y-ness... Were off-putting.

“Starscream's going to want those Autobots dead,” Knock Out said. The sentence, flat as it was, held plenty of implication on its own. With one vehicon left, Starscream in charge, Soundwave almost always aboard, same as Knock Out...

“I know.”

Breakdown interwove his fingers with Knock Out's, almost covering his lover's slim hands. Both knew the ex-Wrecker was the go-to muscle aboard the ship. If the miners needed care, or Starscream got impatient, Breakdown may very well be sent out with Zach, the lone vehicon, instead of Knock Out.

Neither left the med bay, though both drifted in and out of recharge sitting there on the bench. Perhaps Breakdown's theory that proximity and physical contact helped the healing process had some merit to it. With every passing second Knock Out felt all the exhaustion – physical and mental – melt away.

Until one of the miners shifted, keening at the sight of Brock's shrouded body.


	8. Chewing Out

“Damn it, Prime! Do you know how much effort it's going to take to cover that explosion?” Agent Fowler rubbed his forehead, ceasing his pacing to lean over the railing of the platform the humans used to talk to the Autobots face-to-face. Closer to face-to-face, anyways.

Optimus nodded slowly. He had put much consideration into how to assist their human hosts in concealing the truth behind the... energon incident. “I am well aware, and we shall offer as much assistance as you would have of us.” He gestured to the Autobots milling around.

What was usually a casual, almost lazy atmosphere had become tense after Ratchet rushed to the groundbridge controls, Arcee dragging an injured Cliffjumper in shortly thereafter. Bumblebee had already rushed out to patrol the nearby town of Jasper alone. Optimus could name at least five people – not counting himself – who would be bombarding the young scout with messages every few minutes.

“I appreciate it, but I'd rather have _prevention_ than the _cure_ , you know?”

“I understand, Agent Fowler.”

The human sighed, looking up when Optimus turned to face Cliffjumper and Ratchet as they approached. Both mechs cast their eyes downwards after returning the nod Optimus gave them in greeting. They did so out of respect, though Optimus suspected Cliffjumper was beginning to realize the issues arising from his actions as well. Good. It would do him well to take a moment and consider.

“Cliffjumper,” Optimus said, linking his hands behind his back, “If you would tell us about what happened at the energon mine.”

Cliffjumper straightened up, chin high. A soldier in all ways. How much work it must be on him, to tamp down his more... Wreckerly... tendencies. “I detected an energon signature while out on patrol. I called for backup – Arcee – and went to investigate. Upon arrival I found ten miners matching models the Decepticons took.” He ducked his head for a brief moment. “Can't fix a drone like that, too far gone. I went to clear them out and a stray shot hit some crystallized energon.”

Fowler propped his elbow on the railing, continuing to rub his forehead. “A stray shot.”

“I have a recording if-”

Fowler held up a hand, cutting Cliffjumper off. “I'll watch it soon. Hell, send it to the engineers, too. They'll have fun with it.”

Optimus shifted his weight. Despite how slight the movement was it garnered the others' attention in an instant. “We also plan to provide it to our science division. If possible, we wish to mine anything that may remain, unaffected by the blast.”

“Prime, we're talking damage control, not doing anything that may bring _more_ attention.”

While Optimus would usually defer to the humans, being the natives of the planet, this time he spared a glance back at those who followed him. Lower castes walked about with half-filled energon cubes, officers and other higher castes with somewhat more full ones.

They needed more energon. Somewhere, somehow.

And now they had to compete with the Decepticons over it.


	9. Exponents

_”I'm rollin' rollin' rollin'...”_

Bumblebee could not hum along to the song, not in the middle of Jasper. As much as he wanted to, they were supposed to be careful around human civilians. Heck, they were supposed to be careful around any humans outside of those at the base, and the higher-ups that were aware of their existence.

It had been a week since Cliffjumper destroyed the mine, and patrol had become exponentially less interesting. The short-lived thrill of maybe finding more Decepticons gave way to the reality of the sleepy town. Its dusty roads, the civilians milling about, the sun heating up his chassis. The absolute nothingness.

Not _absolute_ , he figured. Sometimes there was something mildly interesting, like an emergency vehicle speeding past with its sirens blaring. That had happened all of twice this week. An ambulance the first time and a fire truck the second. He'd debated taking a picture of the ambulance and sending it to Ratchet with a caption along the lines of “Hey, look, I found your cousin.” It wouldn't win him any favors, but it would maybe get a response from the humorless old medic.

 _:Nothing out east,:_ Bulkhead reported. He was no scout – he had been sent along to assist if a fight did occur – but he and Bumblebee had decided to split up and cover town that way. If the Autobots had lost momentum and interest a week after the explosion, certainly the Decepticons had, too. After all, Cliffjumper had only attacked some miners. That wouldn't upset them enough to attack Jasper, would it?

Prime would know, and Prime had said that the patrols Bumblebee had jumped into were a good idea. So something was certain to happen eventually.

That something may have been the heat death of the universe at this rate, but it was something.

_:Nothing here, either.:_

He spoke too soon. He caught a glimpse of a bulky blue vehicle, followed closely by a slimmer black car with purple detailing. The blue could be anyone, anything, even a simple human car, but Bumblebee knew a vehicon when he saw one. They had a style they stuck to, no matter what planet they were on.

And they stuck close to their officers.

 _:Never mind. I think I've got a vehicon, maybe another officer.:_ Bumblebee sent Bulkhead his coordinates and what he'd seen of the two cars. All of a sudden he felt exposed, sending data like this. Arcee had spoken of seeing Soundwave. He couldn't look up in his alt-mode, but he didn't hear anything that sounded like a flier's engine... Yet.

Soundwave or no Soundwave, he oh-so-casually turned to follow the two cars, again catching a glimpse of the vehicon as they turned another corner.

_:Scrap.:_

_:What scrap?:_

_:Breakdown.:_

Oh. That scrap. Bumblebee wasn't terribly familiar with the Decepticon but he'd heard the grumblings amongst the Wreckers. He increased his speed, sending a more continuous stream of coordinates so Bulkhead could catch up.

He caught the eyes of a few civilians as he drove past. A flashy car, oddly clean, chasing after two other out of place cars? It was a good thing he'd thought to keep his holoform there in the driver's seat. Wasn't Nevada known for weird things happening, anyways?

There they were. Breakdown's mirror adjusted, the vehicon following suit. Bumblebee was at the wrong angle to see what exactly they saw but they had to be looking for his insignia.

Breakdown's mirror stopped moving. He turned sharply, leaving dark streaks on the asphalt. His engine roared as he sped up. Again the vehicon followed.

Were they retreating? Hah! Bumblebee wasn't going to allow that. He kept up the chase with ease – neither had the agility of a scout. Funny that none of them risked being caught in the middle of town. It would be so easy to transform and have a shootout right here instead of driving towards the edge of town. But if Breakdown and his vehicon were going to let them duke it out without breaking the “No Civilian Involvement” rule, Bumblebee wasn't going to complain.

By now they were turning more heads. They'd been picking up speed, and out of his mirror Bumblebee spotted Bulkhead catching up behind him. He held back an excited chirp. Today was the beginning of the end, and he knew it.

Breakdown and then the vehicon swerved, the officer almost tipping over to take an exit that wound down some long-abandoned access road. The vehicon transformed at the second switchback, starting to run for the edge-

Bumblebee followed suit, tackling the vehicon over the edge.

For a brief moment both were in freefall. But the strange sensation of weightlessness was of no importance. Bumblebee and the vehicon scratched and shoved each other, trying to get on top.

The vehicon lost. He fell on his back, crushed between the earth and Bumblebee. Pinning the vehicon's arms under him, Bumblebee landed a solid uppercut to the underside of the 'con's helm. It was satisfying, but not enough for him to forget Breakdown was still around, too. The officers were always tougher to take down than their drones.

He looked up. Okay, Bulkhead and Breakdown were still on the series of switchbacks.

Something sharp drove into his back strut, forcing him off the vehicon. In his efforts to keep his arms out of the way Bumblebee had forgotten about the sharp edges trailing up from the vehicon's knees.

He went with the followup punch to his shoulder, rolling onto his back and onto his hands and knees to get a bit of distance.

But something small crunched under him. Not a rock or sand, no, something non-natural. Little parts stuck to him, metal and plastic.

That is when he saw the human huddling in a concrete tube.


	10. Awareness

Rafael had been getting in a few last laps around the dusty lot before packing up for the day. It was quiet out here, away from town (but not too far away), a perfect spot to test and improve his RC driving skills. It was hard to find time to come here on a school day, but on the weekend he could easily spend hours out here. Sometimes he'd just watch the birds wheeling overhead. How fun it looked, to fly.

Since the area was so rarely frequented, and even then only by himself as far as he knew, the sound of cars driving down the access road gave him pause.

He dared to peer out from the tunnel. Four cars-

Wait.

Whoa.

As he watched one, then another car transformed into a giant robot. The yellow one tackled the black and purple one off the road, straight for the lot.

They seemed to slow down the faster Raf's heart pounded. He felt cold, or maybe hot, and as much as he wanted to run away, or at least hit the RC controller's joystick and move his car out of the way, he couldn't move.

The two robots landed, the black and purple one under the yellow one. The yellow one punched the other upside the jaw, snapping its (Her? His? Their?) head back. As soon as the yellow one looked up it jerked, back stiffening.

One punch and the yellow one rolled away, crushing Raf's toy car.

For a moment, his eyes locked on the bright blue... cameras? That the robot had. He swore its expression morphed into one of dawning horror.

_”Scrap.”_

What the robot said was no human language but Raf understood what it said nonetheless. Its – his – voice was masculine, but young.

He backed up, praying that the robots didn't try and grab him from the tunnel. His blood pumped in his ears, drowning out the sound of the fight that quickly resumed.

And drowning out the sound of footsteps. Someone grabbed Raf's shoulders and he screeched like someone put a knife between his vertebrae.

“Shh!” The person's voice came through loud and clear, the ringing fading away. Whoever it was pulled him away from the fight, further down the tunnel.

The person in question was a teenage guy. Had Raf seen him around school? He looked familiar, and it wasn't like Jasper was big enough that it was hard to know everyone. He was wearing a KO Burger uniform, an extra surreal addition to... everything.

An engine revved, echoing in the empty concrete space. The guy pulled Raf to the side and a blue motorcycle shot past, snaking up the side of the tunnel as it passed them. When it reached the end of the tunnel it transformed into yet another robot, joining the yellow one in fighting the black and purple robot.

There was no time to watch the fight, though. They had to keep running.

Towards the end of the tunnel they stopped to catch their breath. Raf pointed to where the robots were fighting. “You... What?”

The guy nodded, despite Raf's nonsense question. “Long story short? I- I tried to use a motorcycle to impress some girls and she drove away with me on her.”

“She?”

After one more deep breath the guy jogged out of the tunnel, giving one glance back to Raf. “Sure sounded like a she.”

The adrenaline was wearing off, and with the fighting on the other side of the tunnel, the two slowed down to conserve their energy. They could hear the clang of metal on metal, but it was distant now.

“What did she tell you?” Raf asked, thinking about the yellow robot. Did they use some kind of Allspeak or something?

“To hold on and not get myself killed.” The guy shook his head, kicking a rock out of the way. “Especially not by Decepticons. Like I know what _those_ are.”

“Maybe like the black robot. Did you see that one?” It was nowhere near as colorful as either of the other robots.

The guy shook his head again. “I don't know.”

They were quiet for a while. The sounds of the fight faded in the distance, then all of a sudden they stopped. Both paused, uncertain what had just happened. They had to continue on, though; the sun was getting low in the sky.

“Uh, I'm Raf,” he offered.

For a moment the guy looked surprised. “Jack.”

“So... Got a long ways to walk home?”

It was like the realization they were walking back tasted like a sour lemon, from the way Jack's face pinched. “Yeah.”

“Me, too.”


	11. Our Identity

The mess hall was a huge, empty space. The Nemesis was designed to hold hundreds of Cybertronians, and now it was down to less than a skeleton crew. Empty chairs served as reminders of each loss. Sometimes one could identify someone's favorite spot, now abandoned out of respect to their memory. There was plenty of room to spread out, but nobody wanted to use it.

Instead, nine miners huddled around a vehicon and one of their commanding officers.

“ _Three_ Autobots?” Chauncey asked, incredulous. He leaned in to get a better look at the weld line above Zach's optic band. “And you survived?”

“No, this is the last glimmer of my spark, taking corporeal form in a desperate bid for your attention.” Zach sipped from the energon cube in front of him. Like any factory made his expression was unreadable, but his body language was relaxed. Joking with comrades, not snapping at them.

Isaac grunted. “Tell me how the Pit is. I like to be informed before I live somewhere new.”

The table erupted in snickers, save for Breakdown's eyeroll and Zach slamming the cube down on the table to glare at Isaac. The sounds echoed throughout the hall. It was strange to hear that; for the longest time any echo was drowned out by other conversations. But for Breakdown, as much as the rescues' tendency to pester each other made him act frustrated, he was glad to hear them laughing and joking. Things had been too quiet after Brock's death. Even now, as they became somber after realizing they'd been joking about death, things felt... marginally better. It was a relief. Breakdown had put too much emotional investment in them to see them all come crashing down again. For the past week he'd spent extra time with them as they healed and processed their supervisor's death, meeting with them individually when possible.

The ride around Jasper with Zach was supposed to be one of those meetings. The miners were not in the mood nor health to leave the Nemesis, but Zach and Breakdown wanted to get outside the big ship.

Leave it to them to run into an Autobot patrol. One with Bulkhead on it at that. They were damn lucky they'd gotten out before either of them were more injured than they were.

“Do you think Autobot sparks go to the Well?”

The question Chauncey asked was general, but Breakdown shrugged, splaying his fingers against the side of his faceplate. “Don't see why not. They're Cybertronians, too. They've got as much a mix of Well-worthy and Pit-damned as we do.”

Di scoffed into her cube. “You say as they force everyone into their caste system and tell them oppression and misery is the _true_ way to be happy. As they say us factory-made split-sparks are nothing more than drones.”

Emerald's grip ever so slightly tightened on the crook of Di's elbow. Breakdown had not seen them apart since he put them together on the recovery berth. Had they sparkbonded or something? They sure were acting like new conjux. “Di, they're people, too, not all monsters.”

“Not _all.”_

“Oh, and the Decepticons are perfect?” Isaac retorted. He leaned back in his seat, helm tilted up so he looked down at the other miners and Zach. “Have you seen how our numbers dwindle? Thinking of seeing people, this is Megatron's ship and he's been gone for years!” He swept a hand outwards, raising his voice so it echoed even more in the hall.

“We did play a major role in destroying the physical Well.” As much as he cared about the cause, and as much as he wanted to see these guys live the lives they wanted, he wasn't going to kid himself. He'd been a Wrecker, he saw both sides of the propaganda. No way he was letting any of the Decepticons forget there was a personal side to all this, too.

At the edge of his view he saw Jupiter lean in to look at him from her position squeezed between... Two of the trio that called themselves Griffin, Nick, and Justin. They'd been ignoring most of the conversation in favor of passing a data pad with some video playing back and forth.

“Sir, from what I understand, the Autobots instigated that incident?” she said, voice rising as she spoke.

Breakdown shook his head slowly. “I'm not privy to the details. You'll have to ask Starscream or Soundwave about that one.”

“...Oh.” The sound of the commanding officers' names made Jupiter shrink back. She'd worked with Soundwave on occasion after his usual cadre of underlings died, but Breakdown didn't think she had talked to either him or Starscream for much more than work-related things. She barely spoke at all, and certainly did not ask questions about the cause and Decepticon actions. Not aloud.

The conversation was slow for a couple minutes, but it picked up eventually. Di and Isaac teased Ben, who'd tried to slink away once the Autobot matter was over. He looked and sounded defensive, but it wasn't at the point where Breakdown felt he ought to step in. The trio to his side cackled at whatever was on the data pad, Jupiter giggling with them. Zach and Emerald tried to chat as the only two left, leaning back to get around Breakdown.

As soon as the next lull hit – Ben had sat back down, the trio were picking another video, and the rest were drinking – Breakdown spoke up. It had to be done. “So, we all know we're going to need to mine soon.”

It went from a lull to deathly silence.

Breakdown sighed. He knew it was going to be painful, but again, it had to be done. “We're going to be looking farther north. Soundwave thinks the Autobots may be around Jasper somewhere, or that they've got an interest in the town for some reason, so we're going to lie low for the time being.”

Isaac stood, clapping each of the miners on the back as he walked away from the table. “Back into the fire. Who's gonna be smelted this time?”

Indeed. Breakdown glanced around at the miners and Zach, who'd straightened up to watch over his flock. Who next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, guys! College has been picking up, there's real-life machines I need to yell at, and they get priority.


	12. Avarice

This time, they went scouting at night. Each had data about the local energon readings, overlaid on a map. Everyone's headlights were on to supplement the moonlight, optic bands glowing softly. Zach prowled around the group, on the lookout for Autobots or humans who dared to be where they weren't supposed do. He was in charge of their safety, and by Primus was he going to keep the miners safe. Breakdown and Knock Out were investigating Jasper, leaving them without immediate officer supervision. The Nemesis was nearby, he knew, and Soundwave could create a bridge wherever he so pleased for either reinforcements or evacuation. For now, though, it was for the best the ship stayed out of easy detection range.

But still. He had to make sure everyone got through the night with nary a dent.

“Slag it!” Di hissed.

Zach's helm snapped to face her. “What?”

“Kicked a rock.”

Well, there went that plan. At least Knock Out hadn't gotten them all in for repainting yet; he'd be so upset to hear that someone had messed up his _expert_ work by kicking a rock.

Admittedly, there were some advantages to not having repainted the miners yet. Everyone addressed the miners by their names faster, and with fewer mistakes. Breakdown was already good, and Soundwave didn't need to, but Knock Out and Starscream especially were getting better. Benefit of individual marks, despite the bitter reason they were there.

Isaac stopped, the other miners stopping short behind him, their grumblings and squawks showing their confusion. Isaac ignored them, placing his servos on his hips and scanning the horizon, then tilting his helm up to stare at the sky. Someone grumbled that there wouldn't be any energon up there, stupid bucket of bolts. He ignored them, too, and hummed. “We don't have to go back.”

Zach scoffed and shook his helm. Even if the miners were going to stand around he was going to keep going. They usually kept up with the person in charge. How in charge he was was nominal at best, but he was tasked with their safety. “Where would we go?”

He had to stop; Isaac wasn't continuing. “I don't know,” the miner said, and he sounded sincere. “But I do know we keep dying and it's because we got our afts caught up in this war.”

“They freed us.” Di tilted her helm, jerking back as if the idea was a physical blow. “The Decepticons freed us.”

Isaac ex-vented heavily. “And why did we join them?” He held his arms up, turning to face the others at least. “Did they give us a choice?”

This was dangerous talk. Zach glanced around; he was not sure what he was looking for but Soundwave's slender frame lurked in the back of his mind. None of the officers ever spoke of leaving the Decepticons. Breakdown was the closest they got, but he'd admitted the flaws, never suggested they consider whether or not this was the best place. Would they have to run off to the Autobots if they left? Zach had heard of neutrals, but... What would a neutral factory-made do?

“What were we supposed to do?” Di asked, throwing her hands up to match Isaac.

The trio glanced at each other and backed away, staring in unison in the direction of one of the promising, strong energon readings. Em slumped, hiding her faceplate behind her servo. Jupiter, too, backed away, but she stared at the ground.

So Zach took his in-chargedness to spark and placed a hand on both the arguing miners' shoulders. “Can we have this conversation while we walk?” He patted them. “No matter what it is with the 'Cons, we need energon. Faction doesn't negate needs.”

Isaac especially grumbled at him, but the two followed Zach when he kept walking, the others close behind. They walked onwards in near-silence, just the sounds of the cold breeze and their footsteps in the gravelly dirt.

He was, in all honesty, surprised when the conversation ended. Though from the way everyone started looking over their shoulders, he bet it raised worries about being watched. He tried not to scoff at them for looking at _their_ eye level, and instead subtly demonstrated his knowledge of how the officers worked by looking up, scanning the sky for any suspicious shadows.

It wasn't much farther to the cavern the team identified earlier. Just as they'd seen on a satellite image search (they'd even found some human-made tool that let them do it without moving the Nemesis or using its scanners!), there was abandoned mining equipment lying around. Whatever humans had been here last, they hadn't bothered to take their stuff with them. It was all pretty sandblasted, but Zach marked it as a scavenged metal site in case they got desperate. Provided the Autobots or some conniving humans didn't find and take it first.

“I'm not going in there,” Griffin announced, holding his arms out to stop Nick and Justin. He held his helm at an angle that made Zach think of someone who'd gotten hit in the face, or was trying to avoid such a blow.

He sighed. “And why not?”

“It's spooky.”

Nick held up a finger. “It kind of is...”

Isaac brushed past the three, scraping against them with a metal screech. Was he trying to make the most obnoxious sound of the night? “It's night. Mines are always spooky at night.” He cackled. “That's why I like it!”

 _”Primus,”_ Di hissed, shaking her helm as she passed Zach by. She was the second to pass him, followed shortly by Em, then the rest in one big clump.

He took up the rear. If someone tried to get them from behind, he'd be ready. But he was no miner, he was not equipped to handle spelunking. Not as the lead, in any case. Isaac could handle that all he wanted. Good leaders knew when to step back from the front lines, right?

Headlights turned on one by one, as if the miners did it automatically once they passed a certain point. Zach did the same; the illumination put his mind at ease. Most of what he could see were the miners' backs and the remnants of human equipment, but it was better than inky blackness.

“Quick question. Any ideas on why the humans left things behind? How do we know something's not wrong?” he asked as he ducked to avoid a light bulb. Maybe they should have found the power switch for this place. If there was still a generator or anything on-site.

“Spooky scrap.”

“Illegal activity.”

“Forgot.”

“They all got trapped and died, but nobody cared to look for them.”

Everyone stopped to stare at Jupiter. She shrunk under the scrutiny of seventeen optic bands, tapping her fingers together and refusing to look higher than a few feet off the ground. “I-I mean... It's possible.”

“That's kinda depressing,” Em said. “Do you need to talk to someone?”

“No?” The high pitch of Jupiter's response almost made Zach laugh. She sounded like a kitten.

He nudged the person immediately in front of him. Nick, as it turned out. “All right. Let's keep going, and stay on the lookout for skeletons.”

The sense of unease didn't dissipate as they went deeper into the cavern. Between the almost-debate about the Decepticons (thank Primus that hadn't started up again), the trio's fears, and Jupiter's sudden morbid statement, Zach wasn't surprised. Besides, this was their first mission out after Brock's death. Offlining. They were well within their rights to be nervous. _Ejecting spent coolant in fear is the right of all sentient beings!_ he thought, playing on a video all new recruits were shown, a crash course on the war.

_”Destiny is the right of all sentient beings!” the newly-reforged Optimus Prime declared to the Senate and a massed crowd. He opened his arms to them, to cheers and cries of confusion._

_Only Megatron's voice was loud enough to make an impression as he stormed towards the dais, only to be met with security. “No! Freedom! Freedom is the right!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Finally back in the swing of things, to some degree or another. Finals season is over, my brain has somewhat recovered, and I'm in the mood for more TFP things. Let's see how long that lasts, and how well this competes with Paradox Flying.


End file.
